KENFOX IP & Law Office > Articles posted by KENFOX IP (Page 16)

Amendments to the Regulations under the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks in force as from February 1, 2021

1. At its fifty-third (23rd ordinary) and fifty fourth (31st extraordinary) sessions, the Madrid Union Assembly adopted amendments to Rules 3, 9, 21, 25 and 36 of the Regulations under the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (hereinafter referred to as “the Regulations”) that will enter into force on February 1, 2021....

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Time-limit for responding to Office Action concerning IP applications in Vietnam

Registration application: Under Vietnam IP Law, the time period from application to registration for a straightforward application is 12 months. Response toward OA: For a Notice of Formality Deficiencies/Shortcomings: The IP Vietnam issues a Notice of Formality Deficiencies/Shortcomings, requiring the applicant to file a response within 02 months from the date of the Notice. If the response is satisfactory, a Notice of Formality Acceptance must be issued within 02 month after the filing date of the response (See Point 13.8b, Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BKHCN, as revised).  For a Notice of a third party’s opposition: The IP Vietnam issues a Notice of a third...

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What to do if a trademark faces a refusal Decision issued by the IP Office of Vietnam

If Vietnam IP issues a final decision to reject a trademark application, there are 02 (two) remaining options for recourse. In detail, the applicant may either file an appeal with the with the Science and Technology Minister (“MOST”), the supervising body of the IP Vietnam or initiate lawsuits at court. If an applied-for mark is finally rejected to register by the MOST or a competent court in Vietnam, assuming that such refusal is based on absolute ground (e.g. a merely distinctive mark or weakly distinctive mark), ...

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Trademark Examination Principles newly adopted by IP Office of Vietnam as of December 2020

To be more compatible with the recent signed trade pacts, including European Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (“EVFTA”), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP”), and most recently the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (“RCEP”) and the UK Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (“UKVFTA”), some new critical trademark examination principles/practices have been introduced/adopted by the IP Office of Vietnam (“IP Vietnam”). KENFOX IP & LAW OFFICE provides below several important takeaways....

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Vietnam released a draft of the IP Law for public comments

A draft of the amended IP Law of Vietnam has been released recently by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam and published in its website in November 2020 for public comments. The recent signing of big trade pacts, such as the European Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (“EVFTA”), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP”), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (“RCEP”), the world’s largest trading bloc have triggered the comprehensive amendment of Vietnam’s IP Law that enacted in 2005. While a lot of progressive provisions have been introduced to this third amendment of Vietnam IP Law, some...

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Assessing relatedness of the goods/services for examining registrability of trademarks in Vietnam

How the goods and/or services bearing this trademark are deemed related/relevant to those under an earlier mark is very important to determine registrability of similar trademarks in Vietnam. Whether Nice Classification is the only basis for making an assessment on relatedness/relevance of the goods/services bearing trademarks? Of course, it is not....

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Stricter requirements adopted for documents submitted to Vietnam IP Office

The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Vietnam) issued Notice No. 13822/TB-SHTT dated 23 November 2020 on the application of regulations concerning persons with legal status to sign documents on behalf of the applicant in the registration procedure for establishment of industrial property rights and the related procedures. The Notice No. 13822/TB-SHTT has the following noteworthy points:...

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MOVING ANNOUNCEMENT

Download MOVING ANNOUNCEMENT To whom it may concern, We are very pleased to announce that in order to expand our operations and to effectively manage our corporate growth, on 01 November 2020, we will be moving from the current address: Suite 219, 2nd Floor, Five-Floor Building, Lane 109, Truong Chinh, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi to open our doors in our more spacious and efficient office at the following new address: Building No. 6, Lane 12/93, Chinh Kinh Street, Nhan Chinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam whereas our telephone, fax numbers and e-mail addresses remain unchanged as follows: Tel.:                 (84) 24 3724 5656  Fax:                 (84) 24 3724 5885 E-mail:          info@kenfoxlaw.com   kenfox@kenfoxlaw.com On...

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